In today's competitive retailing environment, maintaining a high level of customer service is paramount to ensuring satisfied customers and a thriving business. This is especially true in retail stores that often serve customers whose ability to shop is constrained by their lifestyle, for example those customers who work full-time or live or work within a large city. Simply put, to stay competitive in such an environment, a retailer must be highly motivated and innovative.
Providing a shopping environment that maximizes customer convenience, individualized service, and business efficiency, is a challenging proposition. For example, a typical customer may wish to shop at their own pace and with minimal interaction with store personnel; yet, when that shopper does require help, he or she may also expect that the store personnel be immediately available and well prepared to address the customer's needs. Moreover, most shoppers do not like to wait in checkout lines, especially when the preceding customers have large numbers of items requiring scanning and ring-up. The shopping experience can become even more burdensome when customers must carry their selected items or push an unwieldy shopping cart around the store as they shop. The burden of moving items, besides adversely impacting the customer's shopping experience, also directly impacts the retailer's bottom line as such customers often limit the number of items they purchase.
Delivery of purchased items from the store to the customer's home or business is one significant convenience that a retailer can provide for a customer, particularly in city environments where transporting products, especially bulky ones, is difficult or impractical. Notwithstanding, in order to make delivery a viable option, the retailer must have a well-developed routine for marshalling items chosen by the customer within a staging area within the store, preparing those items for delivery, and then managing the delivery itself.
Similarly, when an item is not available at the local outlet in a quantity that a customer desires, the retailer needs an efficient means by which that item can be located within other outlets, or the retailer's distribution system, such that reasonably accurate estimation of delivery time can be promised to the customer. The capability of providing the item within the promised time period not only preserves the current sale, but also builds up goodwill in the customer with respects to potential future sales.
Maintaining goodwill with customers, whether they are individuals or other businesses, is the bedrock of almost any business. In the retail context, knowing a returning customer's purchasing history allows the retailer to add a personal touch to the shopping experience, as well as provide rewards for loyalty. Identification of new customers allows a retailer to tailor their services with an aim to making those new clients regular customers. Nevertheless, learning about a customers habits must not be intrusive, but still allow the retailer to specifically target goods and services to the most relevant customers.
Hence, in the highly competitive, high-service, retail market, new methods and support systems are required to provide the highest level of service possible, while maintaining cost effectiveness and efficiency.